Tag Archives: POST ROCK

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but it’s like a friend you haven’t seen in a long time and you just pick up right where you left off. Today our adventure was one of my favorite places, Lincoln County, KS. I love the landscape and especially the limestone, be it fence post, homes or bridges. ❤ Limestone

Lincoln County has a program that recognizes all the old schools. Here’s a couple we saw today.

Liberty School 1893-1947

Spring Valley School 1893-1953

I love goats

What a beautiful home and barn. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to fix this up?

Stone Arched Bridge

Huge old oak tree. That’s Wylie sitting at the base of the tree.

Unique silo

Something I have NEVER seen……..A plane at the gas station!!

It’s good to be back with a post. Hopefully I can get use to using a laptop instead of a desktop (as I no longer have a desktop because it quit!). It’s been quite a learning experience for me. I can get into all sorts of trouble on a laptop. Touch the little touchpad the wrong way and things disappear!! Touch the screen and it either grows big or small or disappears. What do you use when you post? And please don’t tell me you post on your phone!!!!!

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This week in Kansas has been so hot! The 100 degree temperatures are great for the wheat harvest. I had a decision to make, stay home and enjoy the climate controlled comfort of home thinking of places to go OR load up and enjoy a day exploring. Load up Wylie!!

We headed west to Barton County, an area known as Post Rock County. This area is approximately 200 miles from the Nebraska border to Dodge City.

Boyd, KS was a station and shipping point for the railroad. All that is left is a grain elevator, a farm and this abandoned station. Was so surprised to see the two gas pumps!

Scales at Boyd Station

On our way to Olmitz we saw this jackrabbit. Our rabbit population is mostly cottontail, but the jack is making a comeback.

Olmitz was established in 1885 mainly by Austrians. It is quiet little town, population 114, the catholic school has closed, kids are bused to Otis, about 6 miles away. This little bar The New Place, was a great stop on a hot day. I will post photos of the beautiful catholic church in the series of Churches of the Prairie, I can’t wait for you to see it, it was SO beautiful!

From Olmitz, we traveled north on the backroad to find ruins of Barton County. The temperature was 103 and we had a few people stop to see if we were okay. Thank you Barton County for checking on “an old grandma and her pup”.

I see so many of these abandoned places and there are some that I would love to refurbish.

Someday I would love to go into one of the cellars! There is a group in the Flint Hills that gives tour of the Kansas stone cellars. Sign me up!

What a beautiful home.

The entrance at one time was quite impressive

This homestead out grew its original stone home and later built on the wood frame addition

This was where the Lutheran church held their Sunday school classes.

Just up the road is this homestead

A little farther north driving along the river bottom and I was thinking “what a great place for a home”, someone else thought that too! The stories these homes could tell.

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I was on my way to Lucas, the Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas, it was their city wide garage sale day. Now you could count on one hand the times I’ve gone to a garage sale in the last couple of decades, but it was an excuse to go to Lucas. Guess who I met on the back road today…..

We are on the flight path of a spray plane that is out of a small town north of us. He roars over our house almost daily this time of year. Today I came across him spraying a wheat field, was able to get some photos of him working.

Thanks for the flyby. Be careful up there!!!

My first stop at Lucas. Aunt Gertie’s Art & Antiques, located across the road from The Garden of Eden. Her hours are: Open Friday and Saturday, Maybe Monday – Tuesday – Probably Wednesday – Thursday She is closed Sunday

I purchased a few pieces for my garden art and a beautiful pink vase for the girls (will look so pretty in the chicken house). Great little store.

A few more garage sales stops and girl scouts selling cookies. Then home to plant some flower seeds and put my new garden art in the butterfly garden. I hope you are enjoying your beautiful Saturday.

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I have already posted about Lucas but I wanted to get some more photos of the Best Place to Go (Lucas’ public restroom). Lucas is home of the No.2 Restroom In The Country 2014. Constructed in 2008 by a community effort, the building itself is shaped like a toilet. The big roll of toilet paper forms the sidewalk.

As you walk thru the toilet bowl to the entrance, you are able to see somethings that people flush down. Cell phones, glasses, toys (if you zoom in you will see fish, watches, money, keys, alligator?………..you can probably think of some things you’ve lost. I’ve flushed a fish or two and had to………I’m not confessing to anything more!) I like the little dog drinking out of the bowl ewwww, I’m thankful Wylie hasn’t ever done that!!

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Lincoln County is one of my FAVORITE places. It was such a beautiful day, calm day after all the wind we’ve had. I wished you were with us.

Since the grasses haven’t started growing I saw numerous root cellars/storm caves. NO, I didn’t crawl into any of them!!!

All that is left of this home, is a window in the milo stubble.

Ash Grove, KS at one time had a grocery store, lumber yard, blacksmith, hardware store, hotel, church and school.

Limestone arch bridge at Ash Grove

Yard art? or just poor parking?

The wooden frame building was the Pottersburg Church. It was moved to Ash Grove in 1925.

The church bell is still in the bell tower.

Ash Grove school closed in 1966. Can you hear the school bell ringing?

To the south of Ash Grove was the site of Pottersburg.

A woman died near Spillman Creek and was buried in the cemetery. A local man later bought this stone for her.

Continuing south is a place that I came across years ago while exploring with my Mom and Aunt. It is the only place that I have seen that has limestone clothesline post still standing, I was so happy when I came across it again. It is absolutely in the middle of no where. Can’t imagine how awesome it would be living there.

I always loved hanging clothes on the clothesline.

Limestone Double Arch Bridge, no longer used but they preserved it when they re-routed Highway 18.

This low water crossing opened up to bottom land that is now cultivated farm ground.

As I traveled up from the crossing thru the field I went up to an abandoned homestead. I can only imagine what life would have been like for this family. This place is so isolated even to this day. I always think I would have loved to have lived in Kansas during this time. The beauty of the land, so unspoiled, no noise pollution, just the sounds and sights of nature. So dark at night.

I read a book titled Homesman, which is also a movie starring Tommy Lee Jones. It’s about a woman and Tommy Lee who take three women from the Nebraska territory, who unfortunately have been driven mad by life on the prairie, back east to their families. As I stood at this homestead I thought about some of the hardship these pioneer women went thru. My grandmother was out in Western Kansas during the 1930’s dust storms and she didn’t want to talk about it. Now I feel bad when I complain about the dust on windy days!

I find so many of these old sites that I wished I could buy them and restore them. Such a loss.